Steve Barton on the Wavy Frame and Canvas:

Something Bold:

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” -Theodore Rosevelt

If there were ever a quote that summed up Steve Barton at the beginning of his art career this would be it. This is not a self proclaimed encompassing quote, but one that I, being someone who has gotten to know Steve very well throughout the years and even more intimately through our conversations for this blog you’re reading, can confidently say is a very Steve Barton thing indeed!

Have you ever come across a piece of art, a room decorated in such a way, or a product that just made you think to yourself “how did they come up with this?”. There have been numerous times that I have been stopped in my tracks by something that provoked that question. These moments have come while observing art in galleries or museums, even staying at boutique hotels. The ideas that make me wonder “how?” are the ones that make a lasting impression in my experience. Steve Barton’s Wavy Frame and Canvas are no exception. If you have had the pleasure of seeing Steve’s work in person you know exactly how captivating his wavy pieces are.

Like I mentioned, when the “how did they come up with this?” question pops into mind, this is the mark of something truly original. It’s not everyday you get to sit down with the creator and ask them how they came up with the idea in the first place. Lucky for you all, that is exactly what this blog is about! I sat down with Steve in his sunny kitchen in San Diego, California and asked him the pressing questions that I’m sure you have all wondered about his, oh so original, Wavy Frame and Canvas design.

Something Original:

Going back to the Teddy Roosevelt quote, doing what you can with what you have… is precisely how the Wavy came to be in the first place. I asked Steve what sparked this concept for him and his response was, “I didn’t have a large inventory of canvas material to keep making canvases. I had to paint on what I had, and sell that painting in order to buy more material. Nothing could go to waste.” Essentially, by accident Steve stumbled upon an idea that he didn’t know at the time would be one of his most fruitful ideas. While preparing for an art show at the second gallery that he ever showed his work in, Exclusive Collections in La Jolla, Steve stretched his canvas on stretcher bars like he had countless times before. A process that involved making the wood frame and wrapping that frame in canvas. Steve found that doing it this way gave him freedom to create unique sizes, but also saved him money.

On this particular day in the late 1990’s, he was hurrying to get a piece together for his show and in his words he “rushed the process”. (The process for stretching a canvas is much like upholstery or making a drum. You would secure one side, pull towards the other and secure that to the frame.) When Steve realized that his glue in the corners of his stretcher bar had not properly cured he was already too late to turn back. As he pulled, it cracked the corners causing the canvas to turn, creating a bowed effect! One might think that starting over would be the right choice here. A decision that if you had the time and means would be easy, for Steve, he didn’t have either. It wasn’t the manicured wavy canvas and frame that we all get to enjoy today “It looked like an accident”, he laughed, “it was a tomorrow problem”. He took that warped canvas and painted on it, “As I started painting on it, it gave me a different perspective. It gave my painting a little more movement. So, I went with it. I had fun with it and ended up with a sunflower piece”. When he realized that he actually enjoyed the process of adapting to a “moving” canvas, he made the decision to pursue the concept further. Steve took the limited supplies that he had, under the tight time construct and created a version of the wavy canvas that looked more purposeful and crafted a frame to complement its curves and edges. He now had his first wavy piece of art!

Like I mentioned, when the “how did they come up with this?” question pops into mind, this is the mark of something truly original. It’s not everyday you get to sit down with the creator and ask them how they came up with the idea in the first place. Lucky for you all, that is exactly what this blog is about! I sat down with Steve in his sunny kitchen in San Diego, California and asked him the pressing questions that I’m sure you have all wondered about his, oh so original, Wavy Frame and Canvas design.

Something Worked:

When presenting his first wavy canvas and frame Steve had a mix of responses immediately, he explained, “and that’s how it’s been ever since”. The gallery owner loved it and the gallery director did not. And as they were standing there discussing it, a gentleman from Texas walked in and said he was buying it! It’s been 27 years since the invention of that first prototype, and reactions are still close to split down the middle, some still don’t understand it and the others stand in front of Steve’s art with the same reaction as that first collector from Texas, they love it!

From the moment it was brought into the gallery to when it was claimed for purchase was about 45 minutes. “That was the moment I knew I had to pursue this idea” recalled Steve.

The first year Steve made two wavy frames. The second year with help from neighbors that were woodworkers, who had the tools for the job, he created twelve more. Something that is not well known, is that in the third year of framing production local firemen stepped. In their down time they helped build the wavy frames for Steve, and brought the production up to close to thirty frames that year! The demands were becoming too great for his local team that rallied together, and so Barton had a local company continue his frame production!

Something Learned:

It all started with a mistake that sparked an idea! Isn’t that a wild thought? Perhaps Steve’s life would look different than it does today if he had not pursued the gut feeling that he had about this innovative way of displaying his art. A seed that was planted, worked on individually, nurtured by local help, and grew ultimately out of his hands into a production!

“This was the one idea that worked for me, what you don’t see is all of the ideas that didn’t pan out. This wasn’t my only idea that I ever tried, but I didn’t stop when the others seemed to fail. This happened to be the thing that others responded well to. I had to get the idea out and at least make one, because if not how would you know if it would work? So you have to try once, or twice! And then you go from there. And even though the response was both positive and negative, I decided to lean into the positive and not get hung up on the negative. What people don’t see or get remembered for are the tons of ideas that didn’t work. But if you get hung up on the negative, you get sucked into that and chances are you wont keep going. So create something new and see where it takes you.”

– Steve Barton